Clusters of Excellence at TU Braunschweig

The rise of the digital society is based on technological trends such as cloud computing and the Internet of Things. As a result, we are surrounded by a myriad of interconnected digital systems, and upcoming developments such as autonomous cars, crypto currencies and networked medical implants will further affect our lives. With this digital evolution, cyber security has become an increasingly important issue. Over the past years, the nature of the threats has changed dramatically from attacks conducted by rogue individuals to attacks that are increasingly carried out by resource-rich, large-scale adversaries, including nation states. These are particularly threatening adversaries because they are exceptionally determined, very well resourced and extraordinarily capable in terms of their technical expertise. Our current cyber security measures are dangerously ineffective against them, as can be seen from the almost weekly reports about government-sponsored attacks. By focusing on developing effective fundamental countermeasures against these strongest possible adversaries, the results of CaSa will also provide protection against more traditional types of attackers such as cyber criminals with financial motives.To perform cyber security research with a transformational impact on the scientific community and practice, CaSa's agenda will tackle carefully selected research challenges of central importance to protecting against large-scale adversaries, including several high-risk/high-gain research problems in emerging areas. CaSa will work in an interdisciplinary manner, combining technical security researchers with leading scientists in the human aspects of security. The research findings will be evaluated in selected application domains by highly capable transfer partners from manufacturing, logistics and e-health. CaSa's holistic approach is internationally unique and holds the potential for groundbreaking results that will dramatically improve security against large-scale adversaries. Moreover, the cluster will serve as an internationally visible blueprint for security research that combines top-level science, interdisciplinarity and practice. CaSa will be located at the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security, the first cyber security center established in Germany. The institute has extensive experience in internationally leading research, hosts Europe's largest educational security programs, fosters extensive networks in academia and industry and has an outstanding track record with security spin-off companies. CaSa will integrate expertise from across a broad spectrum of disciplines, including computer science, cryptography, electrical engineering, mathematics and applied psychology. The group of PIs may well be the only one in Europe to have such a profile, combined with a long history of collaboration and world-class research accomplishments, including being the only team with three ERC grantees in cyber security.

Contact at TU Braunschweig: Prof. Dr. Martin Johns – Institute for Application Security

Applicant Institution: Ruhr-Universität Bochum

https://casa.rub.de/en/

PhoenixD looks to the future of precision optics. Its core concept is to merge optical systems, design and simulation tools with all relevant production technologies into one combined platform so as to create individualized and highly-functional optical devices – on demand, to the highest accuracy and with novel functionalities. As a vision, highly integrated monolithic optical systems will significantly contribute to solve social challenges. Today, precision optics manufacturing is still a highly complex multi-step process often requiring extensive manual labor and operational effort. The high costs involved prevent their potentially much broader dissemination to fields such as medicine and the pharmaceutical industry, production technology, environmental monitoring, or working and living environments. Over the last decade, production technology has evolved substantially, as characterized by the keywords 'Industry 4.0' and 'Additive Manufacturing'. This allows for the manufacturing of individualized products at the same cost as mass production. At the same time, simulation techniques for optics and beyond have benefited from major progress in computational science and machine learning. It is now time to combine both of these and raise simulation and modern production technology to an optics precision level. PhoenixD is ready for a disruptive change in optical systems design and manufacturing. It is all about removing walls and bridging existing technological gaps to open a route towards a new era in optics and photonics. PhoenixD will answer the following scientific question: How should future functional optical systems be designed and produced with optical precision, the required flexibility, resource and cost-efficiency, integration density, or high volume? PhoenixD relies on a combined effort of Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Chemistry. It concentrates cutting-edge optics, production technology, material, modeling, and simulation competences in one place. In the 2015 DFG Funding Atlas, Hannover was ranked number one in physics/optics and number two in production engineering. The principal investigators have already proven their will and ability to cooperate in numerous joint high-level research projects. PhoenixD involves teaching and knowledge transfer based on a networked university concept. The Cluster will be the nucleus for the establishment of an independent Faculty for Optics & Photonics at Leibniz Universität, and eight additional professorships will be permanently allocated to this new department, in a new dedicated building. The Cluster will thus evolve into an internationally unique center of competence for high-level academic research, excellent teaching and new spin-off companies, which will fertilize and broadly impact on industry, society, and academia.

Contact at TU Braunschweig: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marcus Magnor – Institute of Computer Graphics, Prof. Dr. Andreas Waag – Institute of Semiconductor Technology

Applicant Institution: Leibniz Universität Hannover

https://www.phoenixd.uni-hannover.de/en/